Thriller Zone: From the Mental Hospital to the Ghostly World

On the way to the cafeteria.

"Tell me what you think."

Xu Sandao rubbed his hands together, casually looking around, his shoes crunching on the snow.

"Five pieces of scrap metal. Five people died."

Chen Ji asked, "Is there a connection between these two?"

"That's what I thought at first too," Xu Sandao said directly. "But what about the three missing people? What are they?"

The fate of the other three is uncertain, and they are very likely already dead.

That makes eight people in total.

"..." Chen Ji seemed to be deep in thought.

"Also, what exactly does 'waste material' refer to?"

“I have two ideas.” Chen Ji’s mind flashed to Wu Jinbao of the Guichuan Tin Mine: “It’s possible that I’m referring to a failed product like Wu Jinbao.”

"But the question is, it's 2000 now, has Zeng Guichuan started the experiment yet?"

He recalled the words in the letter, saying that Zeng Guichuan's health only began to "change" in 2011.

Did Zeng Guichuan spend more than a decade to achieve this goal?

Chen Ji hesitated when he thought of the mine manager's appearance; at this moment, Zeng Guichuan looked like just an ordinary person.

Xu Sandao raised his eyebrows, seemingly disagreeing with the guess, but still said:

"We can investigate in this direction, since Zeng hasn't left the mine yet anyway."

To prevent anyone from escaping, Zeng Guichuan and his thugs all stayed in the mine.

What is your second guess?

Chen Ji paused, then turned to look at the mine.

"Forging Demon".

"Its connection to waste is also obvious."

First, it was the appearance of the blacksmith ghost that led to the miners' deaths.

This also indirectly created the ghosts of the Liu brothers.

Secondly, the forging process also generates waste.

Even in the real world, there are failures or steel slag when forging iron.

“That’s true.” Xu Sandao nodded. “Then a new question arises: where did this ghost come from?”

"And what is it forging?"

Chen Ji remained silent.

He didn't even know if the Forging Ghost existed in reality.

After all, although everyone could describe what the ghost forged looked like, no one had actually seen it with their own eyes.

It was just a projection that appeared in everyone's mind.

Before they knew it, the two had arrived at the entrance of the cafeteria.

There was no one inside; they were late.

Where's Lao Yang?

Xu San asked, then kicked over the snowman that the child had built next to the door.

Chen gave him a look of utter contempt.

Just then, a loud wailing sound rang out, and Sister-in-law Sun, whom we had met yesterday, came out, holding a two-year-old child in her arms.

"Wow--"

The child was chubby and robust, and his crying voice was also very loud.

"Who knocked down Daqiang's snowman?"

"Sister-in-law Sun said unhappily," Chen Ji said, noticing Xu Sandao rubbing his feet on the ground.

"Sister-in-law, have you seen Uncle Yang? I saw him coming this way this morning."

Chen Ji asked.

"He went to our dormitory to see his child," the woman said, pointing behind her.

The canteen's dormitories were actually cave dwellings, but they were all occupied by family members, women and children.

The people cooking here are mostly the miners' families.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Xu Sandao even reached out to tease the chubby little boy, Sun Daqiang. His sister-in-law then urged them to hurry up and see if there was any food left.

The cafeteria was extremely dark, and the porridge buckets were almost empty.

After searching for a long time, Xu Sandao finally spotted a woman standing in the corner window.

Wearing a scarf and an apron, dressed in thick clothes, he looked very bulky.

This is undoubtedly the only cook who remains.

Xu Sandao smiled and chatted with the woman for a few words.

There's no food left.

He led Chen Ji to a seat and said, "I'll get some for us now."

"We're going down into the mine soon, so I need to conserve my energy. I doubt it's safe down there."

Chen Ji nodded.

He suddenly realized something: "We don't know anything about this, what are we going to do later?"

Xu Sandao gave him a strange look.

"We're not really here to mine coal."

"What else can we do? Just slack off."

The two then discussed it and decided that their main target when going down into the mine later would be to move closer to the area where Liu Er died, to see if they could find the other half of the body.

"Oh, right," Chen Ji added, "there's another sentence in the guide."

"Saving others is saving yourself."

"This is probably implying that if we turn a blind eye to certain things, it will lead to terrible consequences."

Xu Sandao nodded thoughtfully.

"Let's take it one step at a time and help if we can."

But they both knew that if they were to really count, there were far too many people who needed to be saved...

The miners trapped in the mine, the boy deceived by Pan Yin, and Lao Yang, whose wife has disappeared...

Who exactly is being referred to as "others" in this sentence?

After a while, Lao Yang entered the cafeteria, looking preoccupied.

"I need to find a way to send my child abroad."

Old Yang sat down and said very directly.

"It's too dangerous here."

He was talking about Liu Yunfeng's appearance last night, and Zhang Xiangdong's mysterious death.

Chen Ji remained silent. A dozen thugs blocked the only iron gate leading out of the mine. Who could escape?

Even adults are powerless to help.

Moreover, if Lao Yang can't send a message out, who can help his child?

"Ugh!"

All his unspoken words were reduced to a heavy sigh from Lao Yang.

"Perhaps there's a way," Xu Sandao suddenly said. "Are the coal trucks still going out of the mine?"

Old Yang was taken aback.

“Let’s observe today. If the car goes out again, you might be able to hide inside with the child.”

Xu Sandao's voice was very sincere.

Old Yang seemed thoughtful, but his mood seemed much more relaxed; at least it wasn't a completely hopeless situation anymore.

Bang!

Three plates were placed on the table.

The woman, with a pale face and a plump figure, silently brought over the food.

"Thank you, please."

Chen Ji was taken aback. The meal in front of him was unexpectedly plentiful, with steamed buns, meat soup, and many side dishes.

The woman was around thirty years old, with a very fair complexion and a mole near her mouth.

She smiled after hearing Chen Ji's words.

But they did not leave.

At this very moment—

Chen Ji's heart suddenly skipped a beat!

Because he noticed that Lao Yang's face suddenly turned very pale, and sweat even began to bead on his forehead!

what happened?

Is it a ghost? Liu Yunfeng, or Liu Er?

Or perhaps...

Chen Ji slowly looked at the woman who brought them food, recalling a remark Lao Yang had made unintentionally in the early hours of the morning:

"Liu Yunfeng usually gets up around this time to go to the cafeteria to find his lover."

Liu Yunfeng has become a ghost.

Once his mistress comes into contact with him... will she still survive?

Liu Yunfeng died from having his head twisted off.

So.....

Time seemed to stand still around them. Chen Ji slowly turned his head and looked at the woman beside him, whose whole body was wrapped in thick clothes.

Even his hands were covered in gloves.

Upon closer inspection, it became apparent that the woman's arm was remarkably stiff.

Just like using it in reverse.....

The woman still had a smile on her face.

The laughter lasted a little too long.

But the curvature remains unchanged.

Chen Ji stretched and leaned back casually—

At that very moment, a chill ran down his spine.

Beneath the woman's bulky trouser legs... her liberation shoes were worn backwards.